Imagination is a vital tool in the artist’s arsenal. But today, my friend Megan from Studio MME is visiting, to talk about how a very active imagination is not always a good thing…
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As an artist, the one thing I hear over and over again from people is, “I wish I had yourimagination!†Generally, I smile and tell them anyone can be imaginative, you just have to be silly. But there’s another side to that imagination, a side that is unknown to people who haven’t fully embraced their creativity.
I know, I know. You’re wondering how an imagination can be bad. I mean, nearly every child is imaginative and can play with cardboard boxes for hours on end. And, heck, artists need imagination so they can look outside their studio window and see a magical world. But when the sun goes down, that imagination turns on its owner.
I’ll be honest with you; I have a VERY over-active imagination. When I was little, I had routines I HAD to follow to keep the monsters and zombies from eating me. I slept in the middle of my bed with all of my limbs covered. If any part of my body stuck out from under the sheets, there was nothing to protect it from being nibbled. I couldn’t sleep on my left side because I’d leave my back exposed to monsters coming through the bedroom door (which had to remain open so my parents could hear my screams) and I couldn’t sleep on my right side since thatwould leave the window and closet unwatched.
I thought my imagination would lessen as I grew up, as it did for so many of my friends. But if anything, it’s gotten worse. This year I turned 24 and I still have to sleep with my limbs under the covers. If I had my choice, I’d also be sleeping in the middle of the bed but my boyfriend protests that I then take up more than my ‘half’. I make my boyfriend close the closet doors at night so monsters don’t come out of them and I keep my eyes closed when I go to the bathroom at night for fear of seeing a ghost behind me in the mirror. Heck, I’m even afraid of a zombie attack 7 years after watching, “Shaun of the Dead.â€
Yes, I’m happy for my imagination. Because of it, I’m never bored. I can always come up with crazy ideas. On a hike in the woods, tree stumps become old women from fairy tales and thieving raccoons are be-spelled princes.
But sometimes I wish I could turn off my imagination so that, just once, I could sleep with my arm hanging over the side of the bed with the sheets thrown off.
Lucky for me, I have a boyfriend who’s as crazy as I am (he’s a photography grad student) and who doesn’t mind putting up with my no-hiding-in-the-closets-and-jumping-out rule.
I’m curious to hear if you have any issues with your imagination.
Does yours behave at night? Or do you also have to have rules to minimize terrifying yourself?
Or, are you one of those lucky artists (the ones we always hear rumors about) who can live as ‘normal people’?
I have an overactive imagination too! When I leave my bedroom to go to the kitchen for water in the middle of the night I have to run back to my room because I’m scared there is always something trying to grab me!
I´ve suffered from the most vivid and exhausting nightmares ever since I was little. Aged about 6 I had a recurring nightmare about nuclear war killing all the teddy bears – what a strange child! At around the same age I had to sleep with the duvet tucked under my feet because I feared that otherwise a shark would jump out of my wardrobe and bite my legs off.
Wow, this explains so much! I always thought I was a bit of a freak. I like your take on it, I’m just imaginitive. I hate having any body part hanging off the edge of the bed. I always see in my mind what will grab me. I often think someone is a dark room when I approach it. I make myself be brave and enter anyway. My golly gosh you’ve given me a fun side to my ‘problem’. Thanks!
Yes! For me the down side since a child is graphically awful dreams. I wake up thinking how I hate that there is such an awful things in my head that I don’t even know about and that are just waiting to step out of the shadows at night. Now as an adult I still have the dreams but the lucid side of me thinks “Oh here we go again” trying to be casual about it. Nonetheless some dreams cast a dark shadow over me for days when I’m generally a really happy person.
I love the surrealist art movement for giving a voice to this side of life!!!
Megan your post has been on mind since I read it. I realised I do force rules upon myself. I won’t ever let myself watch a scary film, or read a scary book, even if it interests me. I always knew it was because my imagination works overtime, I just never realised it was a ‘rule’ (more of a sanity safety measure LOL).
Brittany- I totally do the same thing, I figure if I run fast enough, the monsters that hide in the dark can’t catch me!
Although I don’t have to have all my limbs covered when I sleep, I do have to have my feet covered and can never sleep with anything hanging over the edge of the bed. I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this 🙂
Wow, I thought it was just me! I’m not as bad as I used to be when I was a kid, but I still have my little quirks. I still am afraid I’m going to be eaten by a shark if I swim in a pool by myself. Still kinda afraid of the dark because I tend to see things–I hope thats just my imagination and I’m not hallucinating…
I don’t like if parts of me stick out from the blankets/sheet–I don’t have a current reason but its probably because something will eat me. I also have very odd, very real nightmares still–can be quite obnoxious. So glad you did this post, I was really feelin like I was all alone with this. Overactive imaginations unite!
Thanks for this lovely post. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately as phobia has started to control my actions. While I’m at social events i’m worried it will come up in conversion and that due to my overactive imagination i will use people’s stories to further fuel the fear in future.
I love my imagination but as you say it would be nice to have a little bit of a relaxing holiday from it. Thanks again
Oh my god! I relate to this sooo much! When I was younger I had to cover my neck with the blanket so it wouldn’t entice the vampires in! And I definitely could not have a limb hanging over the edge of the bed at all! I also still don’t look in the mirror in the middle of the night on a toilet run… I also have rules, no scary movies or books what so ever and that tends to keep it in check! Wow, I loved this post thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, I like the fact that it is related to being imagination, I always thought it was because I was a bit freakish, however it’s just my creative nature ;o) Thanks xo
I understand! I slept with my head under my covers until I was 16. The only reason I stopped is because I moved to Germany for a year, and the duvet was only so long. I had to choose between covering my head and covering my feet, and I can’t sleep at all with cold feet! I still hate going downstairs in the dark, and can’t sleep with an open closet door. I even close my 1-year-old son’s closet door when he’s sleeping, and he has no idea what could possibly be in there 😉
Your experience is almost similar to mine, I need to sleep under covers, even during summertime.
About imagination i don’t think mine is that special. People use to think I lack of imagination and don’t accept my ideas, often they say my ideas are wrong.
Well out of my imagination there is nothing negative about it now I have learned to control it 100%
Therefore I think I can move objects easily but I don’t really know where to start with. Any one have any ideas?
For years I’ve been thinking I was crazy, now I’m relieved. I can’t stay anywhere at night and feel safe, there’s always a different monster my head has concocted. I sleep facing away from the doors and closets though, and always near a window, that way they don’t see my face,and they can think I’m not here, and if they see me in public, as in my mind I feel followed, they will not know precisely who I am. It’s a stupid thought, but it almost works for me.
that’s crazy it seems like most of the people’s imagination on here causes them fear my imagination always shows that I’m a very very strong person and I’m very powerful beyond measure worldly known and respected in the world that I imagine that I exist in. Actually I like the dark because when i make it to my bedroom from out of a dark and creaking hallway it shows me that everything in the dark respects me respect my initiative Fears my bravery and doesn’t doubt my power